Director of 'The Birth of a Nation' on rape charge from his past: 'I have never run from this'

Nate Parker.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
News came out Tuesday of the death in 2012 of the woman who accused "The Birth of a Nation" director Nate Parker of raping her while the two were students at Penn State in 1999. Her brother said she killed herself.

Parker published a lengthy post on his Facebook page responding to the news.

In his note, among other things, Parker expresses sorrow about recently learning of the reported suicide of the woman who accused him.

He maintains his innocence but admits, "I see now that I may not have shown enough empathy even as I fought to clear my name."

He added, "I have never run from this period in my life and I never ever will. Please don't take this as an attempt to solve this with a statement. I urge you only to take accept this letter as my response to the moment."

Now the movie industry is wondering how the distributor of "The Birth of a Nation," Fox Searchlight, will rebound from this wave of negative press about Parker's past.

Parker was to go on a nationwide roadshow to churches and college campuses leading up to the film's release on October 7 to speak about social issues. According to Variety, those plans are now in question, though the roadshow was a condition in the deal Fox and Parker made at Sundance Film Festival for the film, which the studio paid $17.5 million to acquire.

However, in a statement released Tuesday via The Wrap, Fox Searchlight said it's behind Parker:

"Fox Searchlight is aware of the incident that occurred while Nate Parker was at Penn State. We also know that he was found innocent and cleared of all charges. We stand behind Nate and are proud to help bring this important and powerful story to the screen."

"The Birth of a Nation" is a passion project of Parker's that he's been trying to make for years, and since it won the grand jury and audience prizes at this year's Sundance Film Festival, it has received early Oscar attention. It looks at the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia led by Nat Turner (played by Parker).